Mrs. Bradley Series is a book series written by the famous Gladys Mitchell. This series is comprised of 66 books which were released between 1929 and 1984. It is based on the story of a female detective, Mrs. Bradley. She is a strong woman capable of making strong men quail in a fight. As a detective, she is very effective in turning the game into her favor. She has remarkable mental capabilities. She addresses males, from schoolboys to Constables like children. She affords to live a charmed life despite the large number of dark passages she walks through while investigating. She manages to escape unhurt after turning tables on those who think can out do her. Author Gladys Mitchel has managed to model this character in a way that enabled her to prevail in 66 books.

A Speedy Death was the pioneer book, published in 1929. It introduces Mrs. Beatrice Bradley as an ugly, elderly and a sharp woman with a very wicked tongue. The 1929 Genteel country house guests wake up to find one of the guests dead. They are all shocked after they found the famous Mountjoy dead in a bathtub. The main suspects include his quiet but extremely competent fiancé, Eleanor. His forceful Garde who is engaged to Dorothy and a curious naturalist Carstairs are also suspects in the case. Mrs. Bradley is called upon to investigate and bring the responsible parties into justice. This is her fast mystery and a first confrontation with Alastair Bing, the owner of the house.

The Mystery of a Butcher`s Shop is the 2nd book in the series. Duty calls for Mrs. Bradley, one morning after Rupert Seithleigh`s body is found without a head, laid out in the village butcher shop. It is very disturbing that the residents of Wandles Parva aren’t particularly upset. Apparently, the victim was blackmailing a money lender. Mrs. Bradley finds a lot of suspects in the case which proves to be challenging. It is established that villagers were asking questions about Wonder Woods, a mysterious druidic stone found with Sethleigh`s blood. Mrs. Bradley is tasked with eliminating all the possibilities in order to catch the killer.

Mrs. Beatrice Bradley is featured in a film called The Mrs. Bradley Series. This film has five episodes based on different books in the series. It was directed by James Hawes and Martin Hutchings. The starring features Diana Rigg and Neil Dudgeon. The film was released in 31st August, 1998. The pilot episode was based on the first book Speedy Death. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th episodes were based on Death at the Opera, The Rising Moon, Laurels are Poison and The Worsted Viper accordingly.

Death at the Opera is the 5th book in the series, published in 1934. It is a new day for The Mikado group who are chosen by Hillmaston School to perform. Their meek and self-effacing arithmetic mistress is offered a key role. This is after her generous offer to finance the production. Unfortunately, she disappears mid-way through the opening night performance and is later found dead. Mrs. Bradley is called upon to investigate. She discovers that the victim had a lot of enemies, all which were determined to kill her. This story has a great premise and portrays Mrs. Bradley as an eccentric sleuth more perfectly.

The Worsted Viper is the 15th book in the series, published in 1943. Being a famous detective, Mrs. Bradley receives a lot of fan mail. But the letter she opens today is not sent by a well-wisher. The contents of the letter evoke her past memories of criminal investigation. She was once involved in convicting a particular murderer and Satanist. The letter also talks about ritualistic murders occurring in the surroundings of Norfolk Broads. She has no choice but to track down the killer. She is accompanied by her nephew Jonathan who go the myriad waterways where they meet a sect who are planning to destroy an ancient monument. Mrs. Bradley finds herself as the object for revenge.

The Rising moon is the 18th book in the series, published in 1945. Apparently, at every full moon a ripper runs wild on the streets of Brentford. Keith Innes and Masters Simon set out to catch the killer. They are given a disturbing guidance by the delightfully sleuth, Mrs. Beatrice Bradley. In this tale she portrays her eccentric ways which account for the popularity of the whole series. This novel starts out slowly but takes readers to the edge of their seat at the end. Young detectives get to experience working with one of the most accomplished detective on a very sensitive case.

Groaning Spinney is also one of the highly rated books in the series. It is the 23rd book in the series published in 1950. Mrs. Bradley is walking in a moonless night looking fine but the weather is cold. With the darkness there is no exactly path to follow. She can just make up the trees of Groaning Spinney. She expects to come across some gate by crossing the steep uphill slating form north to west. She suddenly changed her pace after learning that there was somebody ahead of her. After making it to the top, she was forced to stand still after seeing a dead white face hanging over the gate. The face was lightened as though by phosphorescence. Her Christmas ends up being ruined. She is absorbed into a mystery which leads her to some unpleasant people. This is great mystery which is tightly plotted with lots of captivating events.

My Bones Will Keep novel is also very captivating. This is the 35th book in the series, published in 1962. Laura is accompanying Dame Beatrice to Scotland for a conference. Their trip goes sour after she witnesses a man thrown into a path of a speeding lorry. She is also caught up by rain which prevents her from exploring the highland scenery. She ends up with a red bearded stranger in an Island of ghosts. The stranger sends her to bed after demanding a company for one week. She manages to flee with a boat but finds another stranger hiding at the boathouse. They finally manage to escape the shore. They later learn that the Laird of Tannasgan was stabbed, chained and placed in the slouch. These two have to help with the investigation.

The Author Gladys Mitchell succeeded in making a character with honed skills of investigation. Mrs. Bradley is skilled in finding the truth behind mysterious like deaths at the Opera, crimes of passion at the circus, poisoning and family secrets. This book series earned Gladys Mitchell the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger Award. This was an acknowledgement for her witty and incisive detective stories.

With the latest book in the Gray Man series by Mark Greaney coming out soon, we wanted to make the very first book in the series our book of the month.

Greaney is an incredible author and if you love the "lone badass" type of books then you will LOVE the Court "Gray Man" Gentry series. Read more about it.

Featured Series

It might seem like overkill, but we're giving The Gray Man series our featured series of the month.

Honestly this is such a great series and we feel not enough people read it so we want to push it. Read more about The Gray Man series and seriously if you haven't read it - start! Amazing thrillers.

Featured Author

Mark Greaney is an incredibly talented author. Not only does he write the Gray Man series however he also writes various Jack Ryan novels. Many feel he is the best writer of them and he truly is a great author. We're happy to award our author of the month to Mark Greaney.

Did You Know…

Jack Reacher never needs a watch, as he always knows what time it is in his head. This has sometimes played both major and minor parts in many of the plots of the novels he features in.